Koimala
koimala Kalo
Koimala Siri Mahaabarana Mahaa Radun (Dhivehi: ކޮއިމަލާ ސިރީ މަހާބަރަނަ މަހާ ރަދުން) or Koimala (Dhivehi: ކޮއިމަލާ, lit. 'flower lad') or Koimala Kalo (Dhivehi: ކޮއިމަލާ ކަލޯ, lit. 'Lord Koimala') is the last pre-Islamic and the earliest verifiable ruler of the Maldives. He reigned from A.D. 1117 to A.D. 1141.
According to the Isdhoo Loamaafaanu, he unified the Maldives from Minicoy (now a part of India) to Addu in the south under his rule. Local folklores claim that he was the second Muslim ruler, however it is his successor, Dhovemi, who converted to Islam in 1153.
Legend
Some versions of his legend claim that it refers to the first ruler of the Maldives after the conversion to Islam, Dharumavantha rasgefaanu, who ruled from 1117 to 1141. It is believed that he was the first king from the House of Theemuge and the Lunar Dynasty. By other accounts he was the fourth king of the Lunar Dynasty founded by King Balaadeettiya as the Soma Vansa Kingdom, although until Koimala the house ruled over only part of the Maldives.
However, ascribing the legend to the first Islamic ruler does not explain who built the large Buddhist monuments that are present in many inhabited islands and that were built in the first millennium AD. It also does not explain the existence of an ancient kingly dynasty in the Maldives before the conversion, as evidenced by the 12th century correspondence from the king to the Sangumanun, or community of Buddhist monks, in Sathudhuvumati (Haddummati Atoll copper plates prove).
According to Maldivian Folklore, Koimala to be a Sinhalese prince of royal birth from Ceylon. The prince is said to have married the king of Ceylon's daughter and made a voyage with her in two vessels from the island.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6426297. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1117, 1141 and 1153.
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This entry incorporates text from “Koimala” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.